I remember the Capitol Theater being west of 95. I want to say it was off 3rd Ct. somewhere between NW 8th Street and 3rd St. Wish I could remember the exact street. The other address off 14th Street had a theater there, but I don’t think it was the original Capitol. Channel 4 was east of 95.

In 1971 the Wometco complex at 316 North Miami Avenue was a group of old buildings (including what had been the original theater) connected internally, with the floor at different levels, termite-infested, claustrophobic, without windows, a veritable fire trap; there was an empty lot on the 3rd Street side for parking. I don’t recall it at any time looking like that drawing, that must have been only a proposed draftsman rendition that never materialized.

Mitchell Wolfson and Sidney Meyer founded the Wo-Me-T(heater)-Co(mpany) in 1925 and opened the Capitol at 310 North Miami Avenue. Headquarters for Wometco Enterprises operated at 316 North Miami for many years. I worked there for 13 months. They owned the whole city block. They had the studio where they filmed the Skipper Chuck kids' show. There was a Goodwill store on the N.W. corner. The “New World Center” of Miami-Dade College was named after Mitchell Wolfson.

The original Capitol Theater building which was converted in 1946 to serve as the home of WTVJ-TV4 (the main studio was created out of the theater house and stage areas and was approx 90' x 90' x 35'h, with a single-purchase counter-weight fly system running the length of the studio) was demolished in 2000, along with other buildings on the west side of the theater containing film labs and support services, and was replaced by the US District Court building.

The 1947 Polk Directory lists the address as 316 N. Miami Ave. I was inside in 1956 well after the WTVJ conversion and it wasn’t much of a movie theatre. The control room and technical area was where the balcony was/would have been; this allowed the control room to overlook the studio area on the old theatre floor, and I suspect some of the other commercial space on the block was used for offices. The reception desk was where the refreshment area should have been.

George, I think you are correct and the Capitol at 322 NW 14th street was the early seventies incarnation of the Harlem, reopened by Wometco as the Capitol. Both of these locations are in what is now known as Overtown but WTVJ and the original Capitol were indeed at 310 North Miami Avenue. A separate entry will be needed for the Harlem.

You have the address wrong. The address you list was in what was called “colored town” and was for the Harlem Theater which was for Afro-Americans only. The Capitol Theater was located at 310 North Miami Avenue. After becoming TV station WTVJ, it never reverted to being a theater because its theater interior had been destroyed, and the neighborhood was not condusive to a modern movie theater.
George Stegmeir